Walmart's copycat strategy: Restaurant delivery is its latest use of heft to break into established markets
Walmart is expanding its delivery services through a new partnership with Dunkin', aiming to compete directly with established platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats. This move reflects the retailer's long-standing strategy of testing new business models and learning from both successes and failures.
Why it matters
It highlights Walmart's aggressive strategy to leverage its massive physical footprint to dominate the growing restaurant delivery market.
Walmart's main business is still its stores, but the company is always trying new things too. Bloomberg/Getty Images Walmart's move into restaurant delivery is another expansion from selling general merchandise. Since Sam Walton, the retail giant has placed big bets on new lines of business inspired by others. Here's a look back at some of the strategies that worked well for Walmart — and a few that didn't. Walmart got its start in 1962 selling general merchandise as a discount store in Rogers, Arkansas. Founder Sam Walton was constantly on the lookout for new retail concepts to try, and he wasn't shy about borrowing ideas from other successful entrepreneurs. "He just tried things, and he would learn, and if it didn't work, it wasn't a failure," CEO John Furner said during a conversation with reporters at Walmart's headquarters in June. "We just learned from it."
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